Scotland face front-row crisis after Geoff Cross is ruled out of South Africa tour

What had looked like a collection of bumps and bruises after Saturday’s 27-17
loss to Samoa became a full-blown injury crisis for Scotland on Monday as
Geoff Cross, the prop who replaced Euan Murray early in the second half of
the Castle Series clash in Durban, was ruled out of action for the rest of
the tournament.

Scotland had already lost the services of Glasgow Warrior hooker Pat MacArthur, who was sent home after sustaining a serious knee injury against the Samoans. With Ryan Grant having left to join the Lions in Australia on Friday, and with Murray’s hamstring still causing concern, the travelling party’s front-row resources are looking alarmingly thin.

Jon Welsh, also of Glasgow, has now joined the squad, and a decision is expected shortly on whether more players will be drafted in. International rules now require four props for every game – two in the starting line-up and another pair on the bench – and if Murray is ruled out then Scotland will be one short of that number.

In addition, MacArthur’s departure has left the Scots with only two fit hookers ahead of Saturday’s meeting with South Africa in Nelspruit. Scotland have postponed team selection for that game until Thursday.

It is understood that Dougie Hall of Glasgow may have recovered from the injury that kept him out for the final games of the season and therefore could be available, but if not then Scotland would be looking at some very inexperienced candidates.

If a prop replacement is called for, then Ed Kalman, also of Glasgow, could be next in line. Kalman has played once for Scotland – as a replacement against Wales last year – and is also believed to be fit at the moment.

“It is an interesting situation,” was the wry observation of Jonathan Humphreys, the Scotland forwards coach. “We came out there with the intention of broadening our base [of players] and we will now have to broaden it sooner than we thought. We have a fair few injuries after the weekend.”

Many of the Scottish players who faced Samoa had not played a competitive game for over a month, a situation Humphreys agreed could have been a factor in the high attrition rate during and after the match.

“It all adds up,” said Humphreys. “The Samoans are a pretty physical bunch, as the South Africans will be at the weekend.

“There were definitely a few players who felt off it. In the second half we were considerably better than we were in the first 15 or 20 minutes [in which Samoa scored two tries].

“But there are no excuses. Were we good enough on the day? No. Are we good enough to have won? Yes we are. But in the first few minutes we were very sloppy and let them in for two easy tries. In Test match rugby you cannot do that. You cannot do that at any level.

“Obviously we are disappointed with how the game went but sometimes the measure of a person is how they bounce back.”